Sarah Silverman vs. the ‘vagina tax’

Sarah Silverman, who humbly describes herself as a “writer, comedian and vagina owner,” is tackling a pernicious social issue — the gender wage gap — in her trademark fashion: with fake penises.

She stars in The Equal Payback Project’s crowdfunding campaign. The goal is simple: to raise $29,811,746,430,000.

How did they come up with the number? In the United States, a typical woman is paid only $0.78 for every dollar a man makes – extended over the course an average American woman’s working life and multiplied by the 69 million working age women in the United States and you have your total. If the campaign successfully raises its almost $30-trillion goal, the money will be used to pay back each woman individually.

Another way to look at it is that on average a woman loses close to $500,000 over her lifetime due to the wage gap. In terms even a Republican could campaign on, Silverman dubs it “a $500,000 vagina tax.”

Thirty trillion is a lot of money — and a lot of cheques to write to women across America. But that hasn’t deterred the folks at the Equal Payback Project. Either the trillions are raised and sent out to every woman who is owed, or the money will go to the National Women’s Law Centre, which advocates for women’s equality in the workplace.

So yes, a promo video posted to YouTube Wednesday — and posted with ample disclaimers below — takes on the serious issue of gender inequality in America. But those who know Silverman for her viral political campaign “The Great Schlep“, and her very impolitic video “I’m f$#%-ing Matt Damon,” know her activism is always mixed with edgy humour and an endearing disregard for societal sensibilities.

In the promo, Sarah decides to close “her gap” and become a man — a cheaper option than $500,000 in lost wages, she shares. Browsing a few models — the “frat boy” and “Seinfeld” amongst them — and decides that hers needs to be more “sensitive” — the European model to best suit her lifestyle.

So far the campaign has raised $67,391 which, according to the Equal Payback Project’s calculations, amounts to paying back one working woman’s losses over six years, two months and 9 days … or a lot of fake penises.